Early education
Crèches for children under three have reduced their activities over the past few years due to a lack of affordability and interest of parents. In contrast, the pre-school enrolment rate for 3-6 year olds has increased over the last several years (75% in 2005 according to the Ministry of Education and Research). However, there are significantly lower rates among disadvantaged communities including rural and poor Roma communities. The 2006 KAP survey also found that 25% of parents do not have adequate knowledge for assessing the psychological development of the infant. There is a very low preoccupation of fathers for direct participation in childcare and education, especially for children in the 0-3 age group. According to the most recent data from the Ministry of Education, there are around 2,000 children with disabilities attending ordinary kindergartens in Romania. For children, with disabilities and other special needs, younger than three years of age, there are no institutional responses for early intervention and stimulation, combined with lack of training on special psycho-pedagogy and lack of necessary materials.
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